1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a portable container.
2. Description of the Related Art
Japanese Patent Unexamined Publication No. 5-264153 discloses a conventional portable container of a type having: a box member; a temperature controlling unit cooling and/or heating the inside of the box member; an operation unit for controlling the temperature controlling unit; and handles. This portable container is a refrigerator having: a casing formed with an opening on an upper surface thereof; a lid (cover) for opening/closing the opening of the casing; a handle formed on the cover for carrying; an electronic cooling element provided inside the casing for cooling the inside thereof; and a control panel provided on a side surface of the casing for controlling the electronic cooling element. Moreover, Japanese Patent Publication No. 2847698 discloses an electronic heating-refrigerating container as this type of the portable container, the electronic heating-refrigerating container having: an insulated box formed with an opening on the upper surface thereof; a lid for opening/closing the opening of the insulated box; handles formed on both the right and left side ends of the insulated box for carrying; an unitized thermo-module and a heat exchanging member provided inside the lid for cooling and heating the inside of the insulated box; and an operation unit provided on the upper surface of the lid for controlling the thermo-module.
Meanwhile, the above-described portable container may be not only carried by hand, but also loaded on a vehicle or the like. In a case where the vehicle loads other baggage or the like, the baggage would move due to: a shock resulting from opening/closing a door, trunk, etc; or a vibration resulting from the travel of the vehicle. Accordingly, the moved baggage may contact the operation unit so that the operation unit may be operated involuntarily. Moreover, in a case where the above-described portable container is used inside a room, a user thereof could accidentally kick it or hit it to other furniture. Accordingly, the operation unit may be operated involuntarily. In order to prevent those accidental operations, some ideas can be considered, such as: providing the operation unit on a concaved portion; providing an openable and closable cover on the operation unit.
The structure employed by the first idea, however, is not preferable from a standpoint of design since the concaved portion is formed on the surface of the insulated box, while this idea is not practical in a case where the area of the operation unit is large. Meanwhile, in the structure employed by the second idea, it is necessary to open or close the cover whenever the operation unit is operated, and thus operationality thereof is inferior.